THOUSANDS gathered on Wednesday for the joint funeral of Hamas military leader Mohammed Odeh and his family, who were slaughtered by an Israeli air attack on Tuesday.

At least five people including Mr Odeh, his wife and two children, were killed and 12 were injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market in Gaza City, local hospitals said.

The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.

Mourners covered the bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air.

Some carried posters with Mr Odeh’s photo, emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staff of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas’ military wing.

Hamas slammed the killings and said Mr Odeh had been active with the group for more than three decades, being part of the first generation which established the movement’s military and armed wing.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called Mr Odeh “one of the architects” of the October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered its more than two-year war on Gaza.

He bragged it is the fourth time Israel has killed Hamas’s military leader since the start of the war. Mr Odeh’s predecessor Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed on May 16.

Mr Katz took to social media to say Israel would continue to target Hamas leaders involved in the October 7 2023 attack. “We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule,” he said.

Several other IDF attacks on Gaza City killed at least seven people on Wednesday evening, including two children and a woman.

More than 20 people were wounded, including several children, according to Shifa hospital.

Video from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building and bystanders rushing to carry injured people, including some children, to waiting ambulances.

An IDF spokesperson said on Wednesday evening that strikes had been carried out in the northern Gaza Strip, targeting two Hamas fighters.

The ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October has been violated by the Israeli military on a daily basis, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials say scores of civilians have been among the dead.

Four Israeli soldiers have also reportedly been killed over the same period.